Silence Won’t Save Us: Audre Lorde and the Fight for Trans Lives

Hey y’all, it’s  Peppermint — and on this episode of Queer 101, Hugh and I are doing what queer people have always done best: connecting history to the mess we’re living in right now.We start with Audre Lorde’s Sister Outsider — newly reissued, still devastatingly relevant, and frankly doing laps around half the conversations happening today. Audre wasn’t here for respectability politics, and neither are we.Then I take you inside the Supreme Court, where I recently sat through hearings on trans athletes in sports. Yes, I was in the room. Yes, it was as wild — and revealing — as you’d imagine. We talk about how these cases aren’t really about sports at all, but about power, control, and who gets to exist comfortably in public life.We get into the systemic targeting of trans people, how anti‑trans legislation doesn’t just hurt trans folks (spoiler: cis women are already catching the backlash), and why bodily autonomy is always the first thing up for debate when fear runs the show.Along the way, we pull in feminist history, revolutionary poets, and Audre Lorde’s timeless reminder that silence does not protect us — it just protects the systems hurting us.This episode is about intersectionality, resistance, and speaking up, even when it’s uncomfortable. Especially when it’s uncomfortable.Follow us at:@peppermint247@hughoryan@pridehousemediaWrite to us at:[email protected]